A/N I keep breaking promises. I am sorry. I have been having difficulty recently with my depression, so I apologize for the long gaps between uploads. I have been trying to make sure I keep up, and I promise I will have another chapter of A True Ninja soon. Anyways, here is the long overdue chapter.
Naruto reflected on the days events as he walked home. It was late in the evening, as Anko had dragged him all over town in celebration. The news quickly spread throughout the shinobi of Anko's removed curse mark. Some came and congratulated him, others simply didn't believe he was the one who did it. In the end, however, he simply didn't care. He knew for a fact that he wasn't going to stay in the village long.
He suddenly felt a weight land on his back. Turning, he saw a grinning Anko. A drunk grinning Anko. She laughed and swung a sake bottle in front of Naruto's face, her breath reeked like the alcohol. Naruto smiled slightly at how happy she was.
"Naruto-kun~! You should drink some sake with me~!" she whined and cooed into his ear, clearly intoxicated. Naruto shook his head slightly. However, Anko insisted, pushing the sake up against his chest. Finally he relented. Taking a sip, he turned the beverage around in his mouth, deciding how he felt about it. After a moment, he swallowed.
"Huh, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Naruto mentioned to himself, blinking. Anko gave out a laugh.
"Of course it wasn't! Drink more, drink more!" she said, shoving the sake at him. Naruto shook his head, smiling.
"It's getting late, let's get you home." he said, smiling lightly. Anko pouted, before both of them vanished in a Shunshin, Anko still on his back. Arriving at where Anko lived, which he asked about an hour earlier from Kurenai, he set the Kunoichi down.
"Thanks…" Anko was quiet now. Naruto nodded, smiling. Turning to go, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning curiously, he was suddenly assaulted by a hug from the women. He froze for a second, before hugging back tenderly. He felt something wet drip onto his shoulder.
"Thank you… for everything. I promise, I will do everything I can to make it up to you." Anko whispered tearfully in his ear. Naruto smiled lightly.
"Of course, Anko-san," he whispered back. He felt a smack to the back of his head. He laughed quietly. "See you around, Anko-chan," he said, pulling away and vanishing, leaving a blushing and confused kunoichi behind, clutching at her chest. She turned and went into her home, sliding against her down once it was closed.
"That boy… no… that man. He is special. I can tell," she whispered, before heading off to bed. For the first time forever, Anko didn't have nightmares. That night, her dreams were filled with yellow and blue.
The next day started early for Naruto. He knew that he would have to leave soon, as he wasn't allowed to live in Konohagakure anymore. So, in preparation to leave, Naruto started packing everything he owned. Sadly, that wasn't a lot due to the fire. After he finished clearing out his camp of his belongings, he prepared to leave. However, suddenly standing there was Anko.
"So… where you going?" she asked, tilting her head, grinning. Naruto sighed. He had hoped nobody would see him leave. Least of all, Anko. Especially as he just befriended the woman.
"Well… there is a law that is shared among all of the hidden villages… No village may have a shinobi of SSS rank or higher. Therefore, I am leaving. I'm sorry Anko-chan," he explained. Anko froze, before frowning.
"Then I'm coming with you! I still need to make up my debt to you, and I can't do that when your not in the village!" Anko said, slightly angered by the fact Naruto had to leave. Naruto smiled sadly.
"You can't follow me, they would label you as a missing-nin." Naruto said. Anko shook her head angrily.
"They can shove it!" she shouted. Naruto frowned for a second, before smiling brightly.
"I just remember something! As a SSS ninja, of course they would be afraid of going against me. So, if a ninja was to reach SSS level, they would be allowed to bring one companion. Anko, you could be my companion!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Anko smiled brightly, hugging him tightly.
"I'll go pack my stuff!" she said, however, Naruto grabbed her arm before she could leave.
"Are you sure you want to leave with me? You have only known me for about a day, and you're already willing to leave everyone you know behind. I don't think that is fair to you. I may of removed your cursed mark, but that doesn't mean you should just devote yourself to me!" Naruto said, upset. Anko smiled softly, showing a side of her people rarely saw.
"Naruto-kun, I have wanted to leave the village for so long. The only reason I did stay was because of my few friends. You are giving me an opportunity to leave without the risk of being hunted down! My friends will understand. Besides, leaving with a cute boy is just a bonus," she winked at the end, causing Naruto to fluster a bit before composing himself.
"If that's what you want, I won't stop you," Naruto complied wearily. Anko smirked before vanishing to pack her bags. Naruto sighed to himself, before smiling lightly. At least he wouldn't be alone on his travels. He felt a couple of chakra signatures appear at the edge of his senses. It seemed that Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune managed to finally arrive. He disappeared in a Shunshin to greet them. Appearing at the gate, he spotted them approaching slowly, Tsunade seemingly angered at the toad hermit. It seemed he said something perverted in reference to her large chest. Thus, he was currently being beat into the ground. Naruto decided to intervene before his sensei was turned into paste.
"Good evening, Hokage-sama, Ero-sennin. Welcome back to Konohagakure. I am afraid, however, that I will be vacating the village today." Naruto spoke formally, showing respect to the new Hokage. If Jiraiya was upset at his nickname, he didn't show it. Instead, he rushed up to Naruto.
"What do you mean your leaving today!" he demanded, causing Naruto to sweatdrop. He put his hands on the perverts shoulders, and pushed him away.
"I mean I am leaving. However, you shouldn't worry. I shall have a companion with me." he said, smiling wistfully in remembrance of his earlier conversation. Anko has already showed more loyalty that a large majority of Konoha. Jiraiya caught the look, causing a sly grin to spread across his face.
"Oh? Is it a… female companion?" Jiraiya wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Naruto gave a stern look at the older man.
"Yes. She is. However, we do not have a romantic relationship. Also, if you plan on peaking on her, you should know her name is Anko." Naruto hotly said. Jiraiya paled.
"Your traveling with the crazy snake lady? What the )hell are you thinking!" Jiraiya started shaking him again, causing Naruto to get a tick in his forehead. Angrily, he punched Jiraiya, sending him flying.
"Stop shaking me!" he screamed, as Jiraiya flew off into the distance. Naruto heard a crash, followed by screams of multiple women. It seems the pervert landed in the women's side of the hotspring. Poor bastard. Tsunade walked up to Naruto.
"Hey brat, good to see you. So, you're leaving already, huh?" she said, smiling at the brat who managed to once again prove that his luck is legendary. Naruto nodded.
"I am going to track now the Akatsuki and try to either stop them or delay them long enough for the nations to be prepared. Even with how powerful I am, ten S rank shinobi would be difficult to defeat." Naruto explained to Tsunade. She nodded in understanding.
"I guess that it is understandable. So, Anko, huh? I never thought you two would get together," Tsunade teased with a smirk on her face. Naruto's face turned red.
"That's not what's happening!" Naruto screamed, flustered. Tsunade laughed, causing. Naruto to huff, turning away in annoyance.
"I know, I know. But you never know, maybe you two will get together eventually…" Tsunade hinted mischievously. Naruto sighed and started walking away, waving casually behind him.
"Whatever, Baa-chan!" he called back. It was Tsunade's turn to be annoyed. Damn that boy. He was just too much sometimes. At least he wasn't the loud annoying brat anymore.
As Naruto was walking through town, he spotted his favorite ramen stand, Ichirakus. He smiled, and walked over and took a seat inside. He order a meal. He decided that since today he would leave the village, he might as well enjoy one last bowl of ramen. He quickly finished, before thanking Ayame and paying. He left soon afterwards. Suddenly, Anko appeared next to the blonde.
"Ready to go?" she asked. Naruto nodded, smiling. They started walking towards the gates. Upon arriving, and signing out, they finally exited the village.
"Naruto-kun!" a voice called behind them. Turning around, Naruto spotted a lavender eyed girl, around his age. Or at least, his old age. It was Hinata, a girl he graduated with. The girl ran up to him.
"Hello Hinata-san, may I ask why you are here?" he asked politely, knowing that she was the heiress of her clan. The girl looked up at the boy, a blush on her face at his older features.
"Ano… are you leaving the village?" she asked. Naruto nodded. "Why?"
"I am a SSS ranked ninja, I have been banished…" Naruto shrugged, "that, and I wanted to." Hinata nodded slowly. She slowly gave Naruto a hug, her head barely reaching his chest. Pulling away, she smiled shyly.
"If that's what you want… will you at least come back to visit? You have friends here that will miss you," she asked. Naruto smiled at her, crouching down and rubbing her head. With the Sage's memories and experiences, he knew full well that Hinata had a crush on him. However, also due to his increased maturity, he knew he wouldn't be interested in her. He has already lived two lifetimes, he wasn't interested in a twelve year old. Besides, that just made him feel like a pedophile if he did. Somewhere, a snake-sannin sneezed.
"Of course I will." but doesn't mean he can't be nice. Hinata smiled, before running back into the village. Naruto smiled, before turning to Anko, who had a raised eyebrow.
"Who was she?" she asked, as the duo took to the trees. Naruto smiled.
"A friend." he responded simply. Anko shrugged, dropping the conversation. The two traveled in silence for a while. After a good hour or two, they reached the Valley of the End. It was nearing night time, and to duo decided to set up camp at the edge of the valley. They had a quick dinner with a peaceful atmosphere blanketing the campsite. They fell asleep quickly.
Naruto awoke to the sounds of combat in the distance. He frowned, decided to investigate. Vanishing in a teleportation technique, he froze as he took in the seen in front of him. A good mile of forest was leveled, tons of logs laying about. He spotted a red shape buried underneath a couple. Vanishing and reappearing for closer inspection, he discovered it was a girl. An injured girl. Unburying her from the logs, he pulled her out and started doing emergency first aid. Using some medical ninjutsu, he stabilized her before vanishing again to the campsite. He never noticed the blonde kunoichi who witnessed the whole thing.
Upon arriving at his campsite, he began examining the girl more thoroughly. It seems that she was hit by an extremely powerful wind technique, causing multiple lacerations. That's when he spotted the curse seal. He growled, angered that yet another soul was cursed by the infection of such a seal. He quickly put his hand on the seal.
"Samsura Style: Damning of the Soul," he used his rinnegan the same way he did for Anko, destroying the soul fragment and absorbing the chakra powering the seal. He then wiped away the ink and finished healing the girl. At that moment, Anko walked out of her tent, yawning.
"Mmm… Naruto-kun, make me some breakfast- who is she?" she aksed, spotting the red-head for the first time. Naruto shrugged.
"I found her underneath a ton of logs, lacerations covering her body… she had a cursed seal." Naruto said, hesitantly waiting for Anko's reaction.
"So… she must be one of Orochimaru's little servants. Though, we should wait for to awaken to find out if it was willing or not…" Anko said, slowly and unsure. Naruto nodded in agreement.
"That sounds reasonable-" Naruto was cut off as a figure jumped overhead. Looking up, he was shocked to see Sasuke. He stood up roughly.
"What the hell? Where are you going Sasuke?" Naruto called. Sasuke turned around, shocking the duo with his facial features. It seems that he also gained a cursed seal. Flame like tattoos were crawling across his face, covering half his body. His sharingan was a sick yellow color instead of it's crimson.
"Naruto? What the hell happened to you?" Sasuke asked, taking in Naruto's older look. Naruto snorted.
"The hell happened to you? You look like you're getting possessed. Seriously, why are you going to Orochimaru of all people?" Naruto said. Sasuke laughed, the cursed seal spreading a bit more. It seemed that it started to influence his mind, as his voice took on an insane note to it.
"Why, Orochimaru-sama can provide me power! I need power! I am an avenger!" (A/N Power power power power power power power power. Jesus, he is a broken record). Naruto laughed.
"Really? You are going to Orochimaru of all people? For power? Orochimaru is weak. I easily beat him. He is weak because he abandoned his home. He abandoned everything, even his own humanity. That man is nothing but a scared snake, and you want to learn from him. Don't make me laugh." Naruto said, looking Sasuke dead in the eyes. Suddenly, Naruto disappeared and reappeared next to the boy. He slammed his hand against Sasuke's shoulder.
"Samsura Style: Damning of the Soul," he called out, destroying the seal on his shoulder. The boy collapsed into Naruto's arms. "Take a rest and talk to me when your in the right of mind.." he said softly to who he thought of as a brother. He remembered his son going through something like this, and he refused to allow another to follow in his footsteps. Not Sasuke at least. Bringing him back to camp, Anko gave him a strange look.
"Why did you save him?" she asked, curious. Naruto smiled but said nothing. In reality, he saw the sage's spirit inside him. He knew that he was the reincarnation of Indra. He saved him because he refused to let the fight break out again. Not again… Never. Again.